U.S. stocks resume gains after a poor start to the fall

Two U.S. stock indexes - S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite - rose in early U.S. trading on September 3, with only the Dow Jones showing a slight decline. The market moved to the upside after starting the fall with a decline a day earlier. Shares of Alphabet, Google's holding company, jumped 6 percent at the open on Wednesday thanks to the company avoiding the worst outcome in an antitrust case.

- The main U.S. index, the S&P 500, was up about 0.5% immediately after the opening bell, but then the pace of growth slowed to 0.3%.

- The Nasdaq Composite, heavily weighted toward technology companies, added about 0.9%.

- The Dow Jones blue-chip index was the only one of the three major indexes to fall - initially by about 0.1%, but then the decline accelerated to 0.4%.

- The Russell 2000 index of small-capitalization companies showed almost no dynamics - it grew by less than 0.1%.

- Gold at the trading on September 3 updated the record of value for all time of trading. The spot price at the peak rose by about 1% to $3561.48 per troy ounce.

Shares in the U.S. rose on the background of the decision of the federal court in the antitrust case Alphabet: it managed to avoid the worst scenario with the separation and, for example, will not have to sell the popular browser Chrome, which plays an important role in its advertising business. Quotes of the company at the beginning of trading on September 3 rose by 8.5% to $ 229.4, which was a new record for the entire time of trading. The positive outcome for the company prompted several analysts to raise their target price for Alphabet shares.

Apple's stock also jumped about 3%: the court ruling means it can continue to receive billions of dollars from Google for using it as the default search engine on its devices, Barron's noted.

On Wednesday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released U.S. new job openings (JOLTS) data for July 2025, with the number coming in at 7.18 million after 7.36 million in June (according to revised data). This is the lowest result in 10 months, which shows a decrease in employers' appetite amid high uncertainty, Bloomberg noted. Analysts had expected an average of 7.38 million new job openings, the agency said. Moderately weak data may reinforce expectations of monetary policy easing, supporting interest in the stock market, Freedom Broker suggested before the publication of statistics.

U.S. securities moved to growth after the trading on September 2, which was the first in the fall season and traditionally weak month for the stock market, ended with a decline. Investors were fixing profits on shares-favorites of the "bull" market. Quotes were also influenced by the decision of the U.S. federal appeals court, according to which most of the duties imposed by the administration of Donald Trump were recognized illegal.

On Friday, September 5, investors will wait for the labor market report for August. Poor statistics may affect the Federal Reserve's decision on the interest rate: the market expects its reduction at the Fed's meeting in the middle of the month.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor